Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 404 - 282: Filling in the Gaps

Pan Yifu heard there were traps, but he wasn’t very surprised.

The two of them had plotted against the star pirates’ two leaders, and the other side couldn’t have been unaware. Fat Fox’s two B-level warriors had definitely met with trouble.

So it wasn’t unusual for the star pirates to have tampered with the outside of Fat Fox’s secret vault.

Yet he couldn’t help but murmur, "Fat Fox’s allegiance is quite resolute... What kind of traps are there?"

Qu Jianlei sighed softly, "It’s not exactly a trap, it’s a warning device with several hidden cameras and an alert trigger."

This is troublesome! Pan Yifu, though not lacking in common sense, thought for a moment and spoke gravely, "Is it artillery bombardment?"

The warning device couldn’t pose a significant problem for the two of them, but even dismantling it would alert the enemy.

They had already plundered one of Fat Fox’s secret camps, and if this secret vault were to be plundered too, they would likely be the prime suspects.

Facing two A-levels, the star pirates might not fight a fair battle—and their number of A-level warriors was already limited.

So once the alarm was triggered, the star pirates would directly open fire, and artillery would come very quickly.

The star pirates’ scheming was indeed quite insidious and ruthless, yet unfortunately, they didn’t anticipate someone having such strong perception.

Pan Yifu wasn’t surprised but was a bit disappointed at encountering such facts after arriving eagerly, and he couldn’t help but sigh softly.

Qu Jianlei wasn’t surprised that Old Pan thought of this. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Is there any medium-level military station nearby?"

"No," Pan Yifu shook his head. He had already researched the nearby situation before coming.

"The nearest military station is thirty kilometers away... Fat Fox must have considered this when digging the secret vault."

Qu Jianlei spoke up again, "If the firing data were pre-calculated and ammunition prepared, how long would it take for artillery to land?"

"Hmm?" Pan Yifu turned his head suddenly, looking at him thoughtfully and said, "Are you saying..."

"I’m not well-versed in military matters," Qu Jianlei answered candidly.

"But from sending an alarm, making an attack decision, to the artillery hitting... there’s a process, right?"

Pan Yifu was a bit unsure of what he meant, "Are you thinking about a fast in-and-out approach? So what do you think?"

Qu Jianlei spoke solemnly, "I really don’t understand, I just wonder... could there be an artillery position in the wilderness?"

"It’s quite possible!" Pan Yifu answered without hesitation. He had similar suspicions in his mind.

He even suggested another phenomenon for evidence, "The nearby military station is a dead angle for firing here."

There are many types of imperial artillery, and strictly speaking, if within firing range, there’s no theoretical dead angle.

But specialized artillery for breaking dead angles are not common, and the shells are all controlled, lacking high initial speed.

In fact, Pan Yifu had other theories, "Maybe they buried explosive charges."

Qu Jianlei shook his head, confidently stating, "I think that’s unlikely."

Pan Yifu didn’t know why this guy was so sure, but since that’s the case, it was manageable.

"Shall we find and eliminate their artillery position?"

"I support you," Qu Jianlei nodded, implying his meaning by asking, "Since there’s no gain, let’s do some damage."

Thus, the two began probing cautiously around the secret vault.

After about four hours of search, Pan Yifu called Qu Jianlei on the handset, "There’s something unusual here. Come take a look."

Qu Jianlei rushed over to investigate, and it was indeed an outdoor artillery position.

Over twenty large-caliber rapid-fire artillery pieces were hidden underground, with camouflage nets on the surface.

Dozens of artillerymen were also hiding below, with equipment to block infrared night vision devices, making them undetectable on the surface.

Under such circumstances, Pan Yifu managed to find clues, which was rare enough. He truly deserved to be called a veteran.

Yet this time, Qu Jianlei’s perception ability couldn’t be kept from the enemy.

However, Old Pan still didn’t suspect the Spiritual Attribute, showing how detrimental empiricism could be, "Is your perception really that strong?"

Qu Jianlei didn’t hesitate to reply, "Isn’t it that your perception is too weak?"

Then he naturally changed the topic, "Handling this artillery position... leave it to you, okay?"

The underground shelters had so many shells, and of course, Fire Attribute Technique would be the best to use.

Pan Yifu nodded, then furrowed his brows, "But do you think there’s only this one artillery position?"

Hearing this, Qu Jianlei paused, then sincerely sought advice, "Do you think there may be more?"

He really didn’t have a say in matters of artillery.

Pan Yifu scratched his head a bit; the military also had specializations, and he wasn’t very proficient with artillery, "Something feels off."

"Then let’s search again," Qu Jianlei didn’t like trouble, but comparatively, safety was more important to him.

This search lasted until dawn, but they didn’t find anything further.

However, neither lacked patience, and they hid for a whole day before continuing their search at night.

Fortune favors the persistent; after Qu Jianlei’s diligent search, they really found another outdoor artillery position.

This underground bunker only had ten large-caliber artillery pieces, yet remarkably, it was unattended, with automatic loading, aiming, and firing systems.

If someone was on duty, Qu Jianlei would have already found them.

Pan Yifu rushed over upon hearing the news and carefully perceived the situation, his face solemn.

"Remote control and fully automated systems... The Star Thieves are actually willing to use such artillery?"

Clearly, this type of artillery is very rare, but he is more concerned with another issue.

"You could actually find this position... I am really curious, what kind of ability is this?"

Qu Jianlei shot him a look, "I told you, I’m not alone... Old Pan, I didn’t pry into your secrets either."

Pan Yifu helplessly pursed his lips, "What secrets could I have? I haven’t even seen your face yet."

Qu Jianlei snorted softly, "If I could let you see, it would’ve been on the spaceship... Could there be a third artillery position?"

Pan Yifu shook his head decisively, "Adding this position is enough; the Imperial Military couldn’t waste more than this either."

This shows just how much the Star Thieves hate the two of them.

"Shall we make a move together?" Qu Jianlei naturally issued orders, "I will handle the unmanned one, and you handle the one with people."

Pan Yifu was a bit displeased by the order, as it was supposed to be limited cooperation, "How do you plan to deal with it, bury it with earth?"

"You don’t need to ask," Qu Jianlei refused to answer, "By the way, among the leaders of the Star Thieves, is there any A-level with Wood Attribute left?"

"Apart from the ninth leader you killed, no," Pan Yifu, as expected, was well-informed.

However, he still didn’t want to leave the diverted topic, "Burying with earth is not a good choice; the second leader is almost breaking through to Supreme."

"I will figure something out," Qu Jianlei stubbornly avoided a direct answer and instead issued instructions.

"You wait over there, I’ll notify you when I’m ready with the handheld device."

Pan Yifu was genuinely a bit unwilling, but in this situation, he had no other choice and could only turn and leave swiftly.

Qu Jianlei first carefully perceived these ten automated cannons, roughly analyzing the locations of the sensors and control system.

Then he perceived the transmission and firing devices and finally discovered that these cannons could be fired manually.

He carefully analyzed the action steps three times, then mentally called upon Xiao Hu.

The cartoonish Big Head Butterfly emerged, its body slowly rotating.

After about a minute, Xiao Hu turned into spots of white light and dispersed.

Qu Jianlei’s A-level visualization of Xiao Hu was already very efficient, but the consumption was also astonishing.

Just in this minute or so, it was at least equivalent to Qu Jianlei unleashing a full Thunder Dragon.

However, it was still worth it; Xiao Hu calculated his plan and made minor adjustments in two parts.

Without these two adjustments, there might not have been any big issues, but since it could be better, why not change it?

Qu Jianlei has a slight obsession with perfection.

Then he used the Vine Technique to dig a big hole three kilometers outside the artillery position underground.

The depth of the hole was over forty meters; to prevent detection, he also did various stabilizations and camouflages.

This series of work took him more than four hours altogether.

Next, he contacted Pan Yifu, and the two agreed on a time to act simultaneously.

Two minutes later, a blaze went up twenty kilometers away, followed by a rumbling explosion that shook the ground.

At the same time, Qu Jianlei unleashed the "Electromagnetic Entanglement" technique.

This technique is his own creation, essentially a miniaturized version of a precisely controlled Thunder Dragon, most useful for destroying various electronic devices.

Once deployed, these ten highly automated cannons were mostly rendered useless, even destroying the radar targeting system.

But Qu Jianlei didn’t care; it was sufficient that these cannons could be used manually.

The key was he was critically short of heavy firepower now—the entire Pioneer Team lacked heavy firepower, or they wouldn’t be driven to this end.

As soon as the sensors and control systems over here were destroyed, the Military Station immediately noticed, "Black screen... What happened?"

But the next moment, they were alarmed by the continuous explosion sound, "Is that... a field artillery position? What happened?"

After Pan Yifu deployed the Fireball Technique, he didn’t rush to leave but observed whether the ammunition explosion was complete.

The second consideration was... to see if any Star Thieves escaped; if so, he would finish them off.

The Star Thief cannoneers at this artillery position were indeed a bit wronged; to prevent discovery, they didn’t even post sentries outside.

Arguably on the battlefield, that’s an unforgivable mistake, but they had no choice as they were ambushing an A-level warrior.

Unless they also dispatched A-level warriors as sentries, it would be impossible to avoid detection by the opponent, but... is that possible?

Pan Yifu’s caution was indeed warranted, as two C-level warriors nearly escaped, one with Water Attribute and the other with Gold Attribute.

The two of them were the combat power ceiling of this artillery position, responsible for its defense.

The injured pair tried to escape and report the situation, only to be mercilessly engulfed by two fireballs.

Pan Yifu waited a while longer to ensure there would be no more surprises before quickly leaving.

He was itching to know what Wen Xin was up to.